39 replies to this topic

[Thorsteenster]

Here's another facet, I own a house out in the stix, I was renting it and the last tenant moved out and a pipe broke due to negligence of the town misinforming me the water was off. So insurance didn't cover it so now I have an F'd up house I'm paying for. I'm looking to unload it which would easily free up a car payment every month. Also though with not owning the house anymore, I'd have to register a car here in NoVA and will have to go through emissions which the S70 won't pass.
I had planned to fix the house up and sell or move out to, or at least a weekend house, but it's becoming more of a burden than anything. Plus with the way property values are right now and the water damage, it's not worth chit. Even without the water damage in great shape it's barely worth more than what I owe.
I still might keep it but I'm consulting a few places, if I can break even or maybe make a few thou it's gone.

[Fudge_Brownie]

If I understood that post correctly, sounds like you might have action to take against the town for telling you they turned the water off and they didn't?

Either way, that's rough. Pipe burst from freezing?

[NEU]

Thorsteenster, on 06 December 2011 - 02:57 PM, said:

I'd have to register a car here in NoVA and will have to go through emissions which the S70 won't pass.

Yep, if you have CEL you won't pass emission, and any safety issues it won't pass either but depending on how bad they are (ie thin brakepads, worn tierods) you could find someone to "look the other way" if they feel you are smart enough to fix it yourself.... But the CEL is a instant fail. Just ask any inspection station and they will tell you.

[Thorsteenster]

Yeah, I battled with the town over it, they had no record of me calling to have it shut off, nor could even identify who I spoke with. The thing is when I called ot have it cut off I was told it wasn't on, thus no cut off was done.

It did indeed, and ran for at least a day maybe two before water was really cut off. So it's a prefab house and the particle board floor has a huge buckle in the kitchen, kitchen sink pipe burst, and from me unable to get out to do anything mold, which may or may not have been remediated as I haven't been back out to check. I was planning to gut the kitchen to make sure there was no mold, cut out the buckle and put down a 3/8 subfloor in the kitchen.
Being a prefab it's really a POS anyway, and I had actually thought to maybe stick build a real house on the lot, but frankly just getting tired of the expense and hassle, and in a location that isn't all that great for me right now.

I'm having some personal and financial difficulties right now, so I'm trying to simplify as much as I can, thus 86ing the house and buying a car that doesn't need anything but gas.

[Fudge_Brownie]

NEU, on 06 December 2011 - 03:44 PM, said:

Yep, if you have CEL you won't pass emission, and any safety issues it won't pass either but depending on how bad they are (ie thin brakepads, worn tierods) you could find someone to "look the other way" if they feel you are smart enough to fix it yourself.... But the CEL is a instant fail. Just ask any inspection station and they will tell you.

If your state has any kind of exception list, (such as MA, my car is exempt from SAS), then that is wrong to automatically bounce you without plugging it in. But I've been told by many shops that a CEL is an automatic fail, because they are misinformed or lazy. That being said, 99% of the time, if you have a CEL, it's going to fail when plugged in and tested.

[Thorsteenster]

NEU, on 06 December 2011 - 03:44 PM, said:

Yep, if you have CEL you won't pass emission, and any safety issues it won't pass either but depending on how bad they are (ie thin brakepads, worn tierods) you could find someone to "look the other way" if they feel you are smart enough to fix it yourself.... But the CEL is a instant fail. Just ask any inspection station and they will tell you.

Yeah, I don't see it passing inspection either due to multiple reasons. Luckily I still got 6 months on the current inspection in which I had the "look the other way" treatment.

[NEU]

Fudge_Brownie, on 06 December 2011 - 03:55 PM, said:

If your state has any kind of exception list, (such as MA, my car is exempt from SAS), then that is wrong to automatically bounce you without plugging it in. But I've been told by many shops that a CEL is an automatic fail, because they are misinformed or lazy. That being said, 99% of the time, if you have a CEL, it's going to fail when plugged in and tested.

They plug in to the OBD to tell you what codes you are throwing and I guess they want to know too.

[grnmachine02]

Thorsteenster, on 06 December 2011 - 02:57 PM, said:

Here's another facet, I own a house out in the stix, I was renting it and the last tenant moved out and a pipe broke due to negligence of the town misinforming me the water was off. So insurance didn't cover it so now I have an F'd up house I'm paying for. I'm looking to unload it which would easily free up a car payment every month. Also though with not owning the house anymore, I'd have to register a car here in NoVA and will have to go through emissions which the S70 won't pass.
I had planned to fix the house up and sell or move out to, or at least a weekend house, but it's becoming more of a burden than anything. Plus with the way property values are right now and the water damage, it's not worth chit. Even without the water damage in great shape it's barely worth more than what I owe.
I still might keep it but I'm consulting a few places, if I can break even or maybe make a few thou it's gone.

UNLESS: When i still had my s70, being that it was a '98 it was actually exempt and here's why. There was a software update to these cars early in their model years. When this was done, it made the readiness codes damn near impossible to set. Due to this my car which constantly had a CEL due to a air pump delete passed emissions with no problems. Clear light, plug in machine, instant pass. No readiness codes needed to be set. And i was living in Arlington county which defiantly has NOVA's strict emissions inspection. I would give that a shot. Just clear the codes and immediately go to the inspection station. As long as the CEL doesn't come back on before the test you'll be golden.

[Thorsteenster]

Okay, so I'm keeping the S70. Saturday I'm going to buy a Jeep, 2005 Wrangler Rubicon, to be my replacement DD while I get the Volvo sorted and then move it to secondary/recreational.

[VS Legend]

Fudge_Brownie, on 05 December 2011 - 12:57 AM, said:

I never really understood the logic in not having the money to repair a used car, but having the money to buy a new car.

I think I can simplify this. It's not a matter of not having the money, but rather of knowing your full cost of ownership for the next x years. It's easier to budget down to the dollar around a loan payment than it is around repairs.

[Fudge_Brownie]

VS Legend, on 20 January 2012 - 09:27 PM, said:

I think I can simplify this. It's not a matter of not having the money, but rather of knowing your full cost of ownership for the next x years. It's easier to budget down to the dollar around a loan payment than it is around repairs.

If money's that tight that I need to budget that fine grained, I'm not signing on for a new vehicle. A new car is a guarenteed monthly expense, an old car is a gamble at having no expense that month. I just think buying in to the new car is simply buying piece of mind, but if you watch your numbers carefully, it'll cost more long term. If your goal is to buy some happiness, predictability, and some of your free time back, it all makes sense to me. Just recognize that you're paying for it.

That said, my vehicle has certainly seen better days and I'm starting to wonder when my time is coming to buy some happiness.

[theForgottenone]

Fudge_Brownie, on 20 January 2012 - 10:02 PM, said:

If money's that tight that I need to budget that fine grained, I'm not signing on for a new vehicle. A new car is a guarenteed monthly expense, an old car is a gamble at having no expense that month. I just think buying in to the new car is simply buying piece of mind, but if you watch your numbers carefully, it'll cost more long term. If your goal is to buy some happiness, predictability, and some of your free time back, it all makes sense to me. Just recognize that you're paying for it. That said, my vehicle has certainly seen better days and I'm starting to wonder when my time is coming to buy some happiness.

here are some choice of happiness

[ozzimark]

Quick, let's post red cars!

[VS Legend]

Fudge_Brownie, on 20 January 2012 - 10:02 PM, said:

I just think buying in to the new car is simply buying piece of mind, but if you watch your numbers carefully, it'll cost more long term.

100% right on. If I can be happier with the new car and have piece at mind, I think it's worth paying a little extra.

theForgottenone, on 20 January 2012 - 11:15 PM, said:

My current plan is to pick one of these up used coming off lease in three years. I'm pretty pumped.

[Ihatespeedbumps]

I've skimmed over this thread (debate) about fix vs. get rid of, and really that's up to you.

In regards to the C30, they are great cars and blast to drive. Regular maintenance will be something you need to keep up with, but that's needed on all Volvos. One downside to the P1 platform is they tend to be hard on tires, so regular rotate and balances plus good alignments are required. If I were shopping for a newer Volvo, this is the only one I'd buy. Also, find a manual version. The clutch pedal is a little soft, but makes the car much more fun to drive.

Best of luck with your decision.

[Thorsteenster]

Budget, WTF is a budget?! I don't budget lol. My biggest thinking behind buying the Jeep is A, I like driving off road and haven't in quite some time, B, in the 8 months I've been driving into work now, I've seen too many newer cars F'd up from city driving, whether it be fenders or bumpers from parallel parking. My current Volvo is a perfect commuter because the paint is already crap, so I could care less about dents, dings, and scratches. Then for weekends and evenings I have the Jeep, which looks good, is fun to drive, and I enjoy it.
It's not red (inline with the pics above) but orange. I'll post a pic later.
Also to "budget" the Jeep, I lost a house payment of $366 a month, the Jeep bill is $320 a month, so by the time I figure in gas and insurance I'll only be paying an extra $50 or so a month.

[NEU]

Thorsteenster, on 25 January 2012 - 01:33 PM, said:

I've seen too many newer cars F'd up from city driving,

The "city" of Falls Church? Or DC?

[Thorsteenster]

NEU, on 25 January 2012 - 02:14 PM, said:

The "city" of Falls Church? Or DC?

Ha, no, in DC. Not really F'd up, but typical commuter wear and tear. I have 4 spots around my office for free (un-zoned) parking, there isn't a single car there that doesn't have at least a dent, or cracks in the paint from where the bumper flexed. I got to looking at that when I started looking around for a replacement. So why buy a nice car with nice paint only to have the bumpers go to crap. As long as it runs good, aesthetics don't matter too much for a commuter IMO.

[NEU]

Gotcha! I worked south of Dupont and parked in a garage, my bumpers were getting dinged up with the white paint from the garage walls (thanks to the attendances ) I won't drive downtown much anymore. We used to take my wife's car, but now she's got a new Forester so we don't go downtown at all...

[Thorsteenster]

Yeah, and if I had to pay for parking I'd reconsider driving, somewhat. Metro took more than an hour, Orange to Red to Van Ness/UDC. While driving is all side roads to Glebe and Chain Bridge, for about a 20 - 30 minute commute in the morning, home is a little longer but still better than Metro!